Twin silos appear on landscape at RAF Mildenhall

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Many people have noticed the two large silos and other large pieces of equipment that have suddenly appeared at RAF Mildenhall. Driving through Beck Row, they suddenly seem to have appeared out of nowhere, and are causing much puzzlement and scratching of heads.

They are part of a temporary concrete batching plant, which will enable contractors to mix concrete on site, rather than having to transport many truckloads of ready-mixed concrete, from miles away, and have them travel to and from the base.

That directly reduces the base's carbon footprint and sources locally-supplied materials, all of which benefit the base and local community, said Dr. Martin Lewis, 100th Civil Engineer Squadron deputy base civil engineer.

"We currently have a number of airfield pavement (hardstands) projects requiring about 5,000 cubic meters of concrete," he said. "If all that was brought from off site, it would require almost 850 concrete trucks travelling back and forth on the local roads and coming through the main gate.

"By mixing concrete on base, we'll halve the number of trucks necessary to complete the airfield pavement works, which will significantly reduce the volume of traffic on our already-overburdened road system. Additionally, it means congestion at the main gate will be reduced," Dr. Lewis said. "We see this as a significant factor in reducing the impact on the local community, and contributes to our meeting the U.S. Air Force's environmental goals and demonstrates leadership in environmental education and development."

The deputy base civil engineer said that the batching plant will provide concrete for the airfield repairs being carried out during the next six months, replacing hardstands and repairing the taxiway. A new deicer plant is also being installed.

The total value of these initial projects is more than $6 million, and could go as high as $9.5 million this year, Dr. Lewis said, adding that it may also support two future airfield pavement projects on which construction is due to start in early 2012, and costing more than $20 million.

"This site (where the concrete batching plant is located) was carefully chosen to minimize the impact on airfield operations, shorten travel distances between the plant and the construction sites, and separate the mixing of on-base construction and general base traffic as much as possible," he said.

"Having the batch plant on base gives us better control over execution of the program, and helps ensure work is completed within the allocated timeframe for the designated airfield areas," said Dr. Lewis. "In turn, this cuts down the workload of our 100th Security Forces Squadron members by reducing less checks at the main gate, and reduces the risk of delays, which in turn saves scarce dollars."